"At the onset of the Prime War, sides formed between brother and sister along the lines drawn by the corpse of the Great Prime. The first blow, dealt by Uta the Rogue, cast forth those known as Varuk-sin, the god of the moons, who formed in totality to join the fray. His twin, the Goddess of the Sun formed simultaneously, burning the sky with her chariot led by flaming-winged horses. From the outset, some were set apart from the other, forced to endure an eternal and diametrically opposed existence." -An excerpt of Keiva's Mythological History
That one can't lead to anything good. How tall is that man? I couldn't help but wonder what they had gotten into in the rather short time we had been apart. The half-dragon strode out into the street and stopped a few meters from where Kurdu and Ossunnam had met Va'tu. Mire and I stopped a few meters from him to his left and after a glance in my direction regarded his own situation.
"So you found some friends to protect you, little blue?"
"Mréckra, say that again?" Ossunnam growled, though I could see that he clearly didn't want to fight. The draconic that he spoke was unintelligible to me, as was the response from the half-dragon.
"Mragan korxl ų laxìnat." He growled. "You and your stupid bàr'ax need to learn your lesson. Did you think that your little trick would go unnoticed?" As he spoke I began preparing a spell.
"Well, in my defense Tiaman, everything you think I did, I didn't do." Ossunnam began, "I did however, eat the Sevva apples." Ossunnam stammered, his voice wavering slightly.
"ENOUGH," The half-dragon roared, spitting flames from his mouth in anger, "You won't be getting away this time." He began to walk forward again, smacking his fist into his palm with a grin.
With a glace behind the red half-dragon, I could see another half-dragon, this one just as big and with scales as dark as night. Tiaman grinned as the other walked up behind him.
"These hr'ruk bothering you, Tiaman?" The man rumbled, his voice even lower than mine.
"Matter of fact, yes, Tuubtu. This one here has even wronged us in the past. How about we teach them a lesson?"
"Well, hold up you two," I began, motioning to Mire to stay near and keep ready, "What says you can't talk this out and end this much more amicably than by teaching anyone any violent lessons?" The eyes of the red half-dragon centered on me and sized me up and down. A smirk crossed his face and he tossed his head.
"Butt out, Dras'í. I have no issue with you, just stay out of my way." He waved me off and began to turn towards the rest of the group.
"You didn't seem to hear me," I concentrated on the chord of magic that had been tensing in my body and unleashed it. "You will stop." Suddenly, as if his body hit a wall, he stopped in his tracks. It was almost cartoonish, the way his lip curled as he realized what I had done.
"What the? Fucker. Let me go." He said, struggling against the magic. Va'tu, next to Kurdu and Ossunnam, raised his fists as the black half-dragon continued forward without looking back at his immobilized friend.
"We do not want to have any harm come to anyone, now call off your friend." I growled. He glanced at me and then at his ally and a smile crept across his face. Gods dammit. I shouted in my own mind.
"I'll take my chances," he growled back and then roared, launching a gout of fire from his mouth and nearly engulfing me in a ball of fire.
"Sùl'ufa," Mire said, stepping through the fire and dissipating it as she twirled around me. Another chord of magic began to tighten in my chest as I summoned another spell.
On the far side, Tuubtu brought down two large hands, aiming for the top of Ossunnam's head. The dragonborn dodged, quicker than the half-dragon, then roared and beat his chest. Sparks erupted from his maw as he countered, causing the half-dragon to stumble back as the lightning pulsated through his body. The black half-dragon countered with his own gout of bubbling green liquid, which despite Ossunnam dodging the majority of the spray, the little bit that landed on him was more than enough to cause him to call out in pain before catching an elbow in the chin, sending him standing back.
Without a thought, I found the crystal flute in my hand, the magic within beckoning me. It was almost natural to play, and as the clear melody sounded through the air, a crushing wave of magic flattened Tuubtu and he grunted in pain. Then almost as quickly as I brought the flute to my lips, I could only brace myself as a red scaled fist came and smashed into the right side of my face, sending me reeling. Tuubtu stood and bee-lined towards Kurdu.
Another wide swing from Tuubtu caught Kurdu in the chin, but Kurdu was able to counter by slipping behind him and placing two well-placed punches near the man's kidneys in quick succession. It was not to last long however, as Kurdu was sent flying from a single backswing of his fist into a market stall, causing the nearby onlookers to scatter.
We've got to end this. My face pulsated with every movement and blood gushed from my nose, though that was getting off lightly from what I could tell. Despite that, my vision was blurry and I could only see the hulking shadow of Tiaman as he had advanced onto Mire. He tried to grab her by the shoulders with his massive clawed hands, but she ducked underneath and brought up two hands crackling with electricity, shocking him with her grasp before she ducked out of the way.
The flute was at my lips before I even could think of what to play. What came out was a haunting melody, one that almost seemed to hang in the air before bearing down on my target, the red half-dragon. He stopped in his tracks, the bolts of electricity still pulsating across his torso and as he stood there began to laugh. Across the market, Kurdu burst from the stall he had been thrown into and launched himself with zeal similar to Ossu at Tuubtu, imitating the warrior in such a way that must have worked. Kurdu, despite being smaller in stature found the leverage to launch himself at the half-dragon and slam a fist into his face, but not before the half-dragon had traded several blows with Va'tu.
"Stop fighting, wèrsát." I stammered between ragged breaths, "What? Your putrid breath wasn't enough to kill us, now you really want to try?" The words came out before I even understood what I said and the black half-dragon doubled over in pain, clutching his head. Another strike from Ossunnam knocked him out, this one a well-placed knee to his temple and he was sent sprawling onto the rocky pavement. The red-scaled half-dragon cried out in surrender as he scrambled to his own feet again and scooped his ally up and ran back into the building they had come from.
"Is everyone okay?" Va'tu said, running up, his nose bleeding as well but otherwise looking no worse for wear. "Mire? Are you okay?"
Mire was grinning more excited than usual after a fight, and it was making me in particular as she looked only at me with her creťa grin.
"Semsi, did you cast the shatter spell? I didn't know you knew that spell." She clapped me on the shoulder and glanced down at the flute still clutched in my hand before quickly glancing back up. It had been far from my first instrument, I had a lute and trained on a flute many years ago. This might be the most important thing I've ever touched. I thought as I looked at it.
"What is that, Sem? You got a new toy?" Kurdu asked, noticing quickly the new shiny object I had. If anyone would notice it would be him, I chuckled to myself.
I twisted it around once in my fingers, the crystal was heavier than it had first seemed and I could see the small marks that made it clear that it was a bone. A small bump, a ligament connection spur near the mouthpiece was the first giveaway, though whatever they had used to cut the holes into the bone must have been exceptionally strong.
"Is that glass?" Ossu asked, eyeing it rather suspiciously off the bat.
"Crystal. From a crystal dragon." I responded. No sense in being coy with this thing around them, I reasoned with myself.
"What in the undercroft? Where did you get that?" Va'tu snorted.
"It was sitting on the shelf at some magic shop the next street over."
"How much did you pay for it?" Kurdu asked, a mischievous smile coming across his face.
"Nothing. I didn't steal it though. She let me take it." I put my hands up, hoping it would convey my innocence. Kurdu smiled an even more evil smile.
"You finally found the thing that was worth it?" He said.
"No, I'm telling the truth. I'll explain more later, I promise." I said, praying that he would give up and move along. His expression slowly faded as he began looking around the plaza we were in. The merchant who Kurdu had crashed through had returned and was now staring at their wrecked stand, a tall one that had an awning for the trader and the customer. Now it had a dwarf sized hole in it and a broken support beam of the awning. I could already tell that Mire was looking too, her mouth already mouthing the words to a mending spell.
"My friend, I apologize for my friend being launched into your stall here," She said, walking up to them.
"No worries, it wouldn't be the first time that those two fought someone out here and destroyed something," the merchant, an elf, responded, laughing rather nervously, "but it would be the first time that anyone sent them packing. Who are you all?"
"Just adventurers, trying to pass through and find lodging." Va'tu cut in. I could see the look he gave to Ossu and Kurdu, each of whom feigned ignorance. Whatever had happened in there, I'll find out later, was my only thought.
"I see. You may have curbed their behavior for a bit and we at least appreciate it." the elf said.
"Enîmdģ," Mire flourished, creating a burst of color and a snap as wood and metal bend back into place.
The merchant gasped and then broke into a smile.
"I see magic everyday and yet it does not lose its wonder." the man exclaimed with a sparkle in his eye. "Thank you for fixing this. I don't sell much a group of adventurers would want but you must stop by my father's shop one day if you get the chance. He still lives on Alina. He will gladly give you a discount."
"I doubt we will be going to the island, kiin." Mire said, a slight giggle bubbling up.
"If you need, of course." The elf bowed before turning back to their like-new stall.
"That was nice of you," I remarked as we walked away.
"Well it was only right. We kind of destroyed his stall." She laughed.
"The half-dragon did that, not us." I returned with a shrug.
"Word gets out that we are simply destructive wherever we go, we wouldn't be allowed to go many places. I would rather cast a spell to fix a man's livelihood than leave him to fix it himself, when we were a part of the cause."
"You sound far too much like my grandmother." I chuckled and took the lead as we walked down the street.
The crowds that had gathered to watch the spectacle ebbed away as the action died down and those that remained watched us apprehensively. They whispered amongst themselves about our fight.
Finally, we got far enough away from the market where the fight had taken place and the gazes became nonexistent. The boisterous and loud upper city, where houses almost seemed like they were built atop one another while they each cascaded down the cliff began to turn into a recognisable older part of the city. Here I could see remnants of an old wall, built many many years ago, by elves if I had to guess, that had been reused as the foundation of the tall temple dedicated to the god Farum nearby. If I had to guess, this was the boundary of the old city and the new. This was the only flat part of the city, leading out to the docks and the water to the north, the tall cliffs that encompassed the city acting as their own natural protective wall. From the water was the only place that this city was really vulnerable to attack, as the walls and cliffs that surrounded Hyhurst made it nearly impenetrable. I had studied a few of the people that had attempted to take the port for themselves in the past. Of the most notable, Sivantari the Pirate Lord was the only to hold the city for any extended period of time during his expansion nearly one hundred years ago.
The scars of the Pirate Lord still exist all across the world even today. I had to learn plenty about his work when I was going through school, though I always found the man to be especially grotesque. What kind of man believes he can control the very powers of the Prime Beings and get away unscathed? What kind of man burns down an island like Alina looking for the Skeleton Key, then proceeds to burn down half the known world in pursuit of it?
"Sem? You okay?" Va'tu said, noticing that my brow was furrowed as I walked.
"Yes? Oh, yes, I am. I'm just," I paused for a moment, "I'm just thinking."
"About that fight?" Va'tu asked.
"Well, slightly." I chuckled. "In truth, I was thinking about the Pirate Lord."
"The Pirate Lord? Sivantari? Why?" Va'tu turned his head to the side in confusion.
"I haven't told you the truth about the flute yet. You promise you won't freak out when I tell you what happened when I picked up the flute?"
"Wait," he said, pulling our group to the side of the street, "what are you saying?"
"Sivantari was said to be seeking out the power of the Prime Beings," in my pocket, I felt for the shape of the Crystal Flute, "and yet this one found me. When I picked it up, I think I talked to He'evnar."
"The Bard, I knew it." Mire smiled in realization.
"He told me his name but I didn't want to believe it even happened until the fight. I've never felt so much magic flowing through me until then." I turned to Mire in the circle that we had formed, "Is that what you always feel like?"
"I'm not sure," she chuckled. "We might be able to see how the magic works if you can recreate it tonight, though."
"No reason not to try," I smirked as we continued walking, finding an inn just before dusk.